Fagan wins Democratic primary for secretary of state

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Shemia Fagan, a state senator from Portland, has won the Democratic primary for Oregon secretary of state.

Fagan beat fellow state Sen. Mark Hass, of Beaverton, in a very tight race. She will face state Sen. Kim Thatcher in the fall. Thatcher, from Keizer, won the GOP primary.

The secretary of the state, who is Oregon’s second-highest elected official, runs elections and other matters.

Meanwhile Alex Spenser has won the Democratic primary in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District race.

Spenser of Klamath Falls will face former sate senator Cliff Bentz, who won the GOP contest. Voters in November will chose a replacement for Rep. Greg Walden, the Republican who didn’t run for a 12th term in the conservative region covering the rural eastern and central part of the state.

Bentz will have the advantage in the fall in the predominantly Republican part of the state.

Spenser won a close race among four other Democrats vying for the 2nd District Democratic nomination.

The 2nd is the only Oregon U.S. House District represented by a Republican. Oregon’s four Democratic U.S. House members all won their primaries.